Waters (NYSE:WAT) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wolfe Research

Waters (NYSE:WAT) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wolfe Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

WAT has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Waters from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.71.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $371.90 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $325.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $350.93. The stock has a market cap of $36.52 billion, a PE ratio of 47.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.79. Waters has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.91%.Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 91.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. Waters has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.400-14.600 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Waters will post 14.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Wei Jiang bought 500 shares of Waters stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $289.46 per share, for a total transaction of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,031.86. The trade was a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new position in Waters in the third quarter valued at $1,397,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 543.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,244 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $14,146,000 after acquiring an additional 31,459 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Waters by 12.2% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 231,852 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $69,512,000 after acquiring an additional 25,182 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 3.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,295,612,000 after acquiring an additional 246,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in Waters in the third quarter valued at about $4,677,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

About Waters

Waters Corporation is a global provider of analytical instruments, software and services for laboratory and research applications. The company designs, manufactures and sells technologies centered on liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, separation science, and related sample preparation and detection systems. Its product portfolio includes chromatographs, mass spectrometers, columns and consumables, laboratory informatics and workflow software, as well as technical support and training services that help customers run and interpret complex analyses.

Waters serves a wide range of end markets that include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research and testing laboratories, academic and government research institutions, clinical diagnostics, food and environmental testing, and industrial and chemical manufacturers.